Lab Track: The Nerd Anthem

A few of the 'Labbers had the totally enviable honor of seeing (and performing with and presenting fan art to) Marian Call this last weekend. In tribute to their awesome experience, I give you this track. "I'll Still Be a Geek After Nobody Thinks It's Chic (The Nerd Anthem)," if you haven't heard it, is just that: an anthem to nerdery. Instead of me sticking up a youtube of the album version (which you can hear here in all of its harmonized glory), Maggie has provided me with the live recording from Marian's Boston Skeptics performance. Which is fitting, I think, since so many of her shows are done in the intimacy of people's living rooms — not to mention that her introduction is awesome.

All the cool kids keep enthusiasm rationed
Right down to the last explosive ounce
But I’d rather indulge my many passions
Even if my squaritude is overly pronounced

Perhaps I do not strike you as a geek
Without the horn-rimmed glasses or knee-high argyle socks
But nerdery is more than wardrobe-deep
And I’m a nerd down in my heart, and that’s where nerdhood rocks

Oh, I’m better acquainted than a good girl ought to be
With Aragorn and Yo-Saff-Bridge and Worf and HAL and Han
But you don’t really know me and my culture don’t control me
So don’t you pigeonhole me, cuz my phaser’s set to stun

Oh, I have been a nerd since long before I could have heard that
Bookish girls should look and act a certain way
And I’ll still be a geek when I am utterly antique
Because I do not care what normal people say

My superpower’s draining fun from parties
But if I am a misfit then I’m in good company
With Auden, Austen, Hawking, Galileo, and Van Gogh
And countless other weirdos whom you really ought to know

So stow your expectations — no — I won’t fix your PC
And I don’t mind being underrated or ignored
The world is much too interesting to entertain ennui
So I will never play it cool, and I will never once be bored

Oh, I have been a nerd since long before anyone heard that
Pale and scrawny was the latest fashion trend
And I’ll still be a geek after nobody thinks it’s chic
Because I don’t require approval in the end

In aught-four, D-Kwon’s Dance Grooves swept the country
And suddenly old moon boots were Italian haute couture
Time Magazine reported that our hour had finally come
I guess they didn’t know that we already run the world

Oh, I have been a nerd since my first (five-syllable) word
And no TV series or movie changes that
And I’ll still be a geek now Vote for Pedro’s so last week
I do not care whether Milan endorses plaid

Oh, I have been a nerd since long before anyone heard
That pale and scrawny was the latest fashion trend
And I’ll still be a geek after nobody thinks it’s chic
You will find that I have nothing to defend
Oh, I don’t need your approval in the end

This has been another installment of Monday Lab Tracks. Send us your musical recommendations through our contact link at the top of the page, and tell us what you think of the song in the comments below!

Ashley Hamer

Ashley Hamer (aka Smashley) is a saxophonist and writer living in Chicago, where she performs regularly with the funk band FuzZz and jazz ensemble Big Band Boom. She also does standup comedy, sort of, sometimes. Her tenor saxophone's name is Ladybird.